Description

Winter weather presents many challenges to the forecaster. This self-paced, distance learning course addresses the scientific aspects of a few of those challenges: microphysics, precipitation type, precipitation amount, and applications of NWP ensembles. As both mesoscale observations and model resolution improve, the forecaster needs to keep abreast of applications of these in the operational environment. These self-paced modules discuss the principles of these applications with the aim of improving winter weather forecasts.

There are two parts to this course: Core Topics and Advanced Topics. The Core Topics provide reviews of basic applications in microphysics, precipitation type, QPF, and NWP. The Advanced Topics include specific wintertime phenomena/cases and sophisticated techniques that address mesoscale precipitation features.

Goals and Objectives

The instructional objective for this course is to provide a review of the following core concepts: